


tell me a story

by tcnystcnks



Series: the aftermath [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Pepperony, Gen, and then i just mess around with everything afterr, but the relationship isn't exaclty pertinent to the fic, for the sole purpose of letting her know how amazing her father is okay, here you go, i just have this idea that everyone who survived is instrincly involved in morgan's life, its mainly about tony and his daughter, let me live my fantasy, slight hints of carolrhodey, so i haven't tagged it, so welp, this is extremely short but i literally could not get through writing it without crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 15:08:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18640576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tcnystcnks/pseuds/tcnystcnks
Summary: 5 year old Morgan Stark grows up in a world without her father, never really getting the chance to get to know him(but surrounded by people who do)





	tell me a story

 

“Mom,” Morgan looks up from where she’s snuggled against Pepper’s chest, “tell me a story”

It takes a few nudges before Pepper realises that her daughter is speaking to her, a few nudges before she stops staring into the empty space where Tony’s hologram was

“Yeah sweetie?” she says, furiously brushing off tears, “what is it?”

“Tell me a story”

She takes in a shuddering breath but its a voice from behind her that answers, “I met your dad was I was 12 years old”

Morgan climbs on top of Pepper to see where the new voice came from, and its come the teenage leaning against the wall at the back of the crowd

He looks up when he realises all eyes are on him, and makes his way over to the couch, “My apologies ma’am, I’m Harley Keener I’m very sorry for your loss”

Pepper takes his offered hand and shakes it, “you’re the - you’re the kid with the potato gun”

Harley opens his mouth to answer but Morgan shrieks from her mother’s arms, “you have a potato gun?!”

“Yeah I do squirt, and I even used it on your dad once”

\--

(it becomes a tradition after that)

\--

Pepper cajoles Harley into visiting over christmas like he was meant to, and Happy invites May as his date

Rhodey’s taken a sabbatical, and he’s in the cabin helping Pepper with Morgan and Stark Industries; and they’re all sitting around the dining table when Morgan looks up from where she’s snuggled against Rhodey’s chest

“Can someone tell me a story?”

“What kind of story squirt,” Rhodey asks, jostling his thigh slightly to make her giggle

“A dad story”

The room goes chillingly quiet, before Peter pipes up from the end of the table

“Did I ever tell you about the time I lied to your dad about band practise?”

And that’s how it kicks off

\--

They meet every christmas, Harley and Peter working out highschool, and then university, and then work deadlines to make their way up to the cabin and spend the weekend there

Morgan is 10 then 15 then 20, but every year, she turns to the table at large and says, “tell me a story”

and they do

\--

Rhodey tells her about the shenanigans that they got up to in MIT, about  _all the goddamn fights your 5 foot nothing runt of a dad would get into, god he was annoying_

Pepper tells her about how much her father loved her, about the big bunny he bought her, about all the times he said he loved her

Peter tells her about the Stark Internship, about 500 something possible webs, about breaking the cycle of shame

Harley teaches her how to make a potato gun, and whispers about how her father was so scared; but so brave anyway

Bruce, when he has time to visit, tells her about how Tony Stark saved his life

\--

Sometimes they have guests

Bucky, surprisingly, drops by often, training Morgan in various forms of martial arts until she can (almost) hold her own against him

Carol stays over everytime she’s in the same solar system; snuggling up on the couch against Rhodey and simply resting

Happy comes by less often, but he always remembers to bring a cheeseburger with him

And every single time, without fail, as they sit on the dinner table, Morgan says, “tell me a story”

\--

She’s 21 and she learns that her father suffered from PTSD and anxiety, but he got through it

She’s 24 and she learns that her father had a drinking problem, and that he was featured in 3 sex tapes online

She’s 25 and she learns that her parents almost never happened, that being Iron Man almost killed them

She’s 30 and getting married and she learns that he used to be really good friends with Steve, but Uncle Bucky never really got a chance to know him

She’s 36 with Baby Number 2 along the way; and she looks up to see her mother coming to join her from where she’s lightly threading water with her feet

“He died when I was 5 years old,” she says without preamble, absentmindedly rubbing her hand across her swollen belly, “he died knowing that he’d never get to see me grow up”

“Hey mom,” Morgan says, leaning her head on her mother’s shoulder, “tell me a story”

And Pepper takes in a deep breath and says, “Your father was the bravest man I ever knew. So brave, that one time, he grabbed six of the world’s most powerful stones- all to save his little girl”

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr saw it first](https://desitonystark.tumblr.com/post/184519314352/tell-me-a-story)  
> [my ig](https://www.instagram.com/tcnystcnks/)  
> -A


End file.
